Mop



Feb. 7, 1933.

E. B. HALL. JR

MOP

Filed Sept Patented Feb. '7, 1933 UNITED'SI-TV'ATES PATENQTIOFFICIE I EDWARD B. HALL, JR; OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR'TO O-GEIDAR CORLN OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS V v V x MOP Application filed- September 16, 1931. Serial No, 563,119.,

This invention relates to improvements mops, and more particularly to mproveg ments 1n mop head construction, the inven- M tion being highly desirableboth for the con- 5 struct-ion and manner ofconnection of handle holding means and swatch holding means, although the invention may have many and various uses and purposes aswill be apparent to one skilled in the art. l With mops as previously constructed,'certain difiiculties have been experienced in the use thereof, one of the chief difliculties lying in the fact that it was almost impossible for 7 an operator or user to acquire easily and readily, as well as maintain, the proper-adjustment between the mop handle and the mop head. "In many of the formerly known constructions, no adjustment for moving the l handle holding member relatively to the mop head was provided, in other instances the handle was movable relatively to themop head to certain fixed predetermined points, and in still other instances where thehandle was movablerelativelv toithe head, the construction was such that in a short timeun- 'der normal usage the two parts would be come. relatively loosened no adjustment at all of any degree of permanency was possible. Furthermore, with mops asheretofore constructed, trouble has ensued in the loosening of the various connections as adirect result of thorough handling to which mops aresub'ected it bein a common ex edient for a 7 j C) i user of a mop to pound the same uponia railing to free the mop of dust and dirt. Such abuse tends to loosen engagement of the mop handle and handle holder, inthe. connection between the handle holder and mop head or A u swatch holder, and these connections as here- 40 tofore made when once loosened remain loosened'. Another great objection to mops here tofore known, resided in the fact that not infrequently a user would cause certain parts of the constructionof the mop besides the swatch to come forcibly into contactvwith a head constructionincluding a pivotal handle socket easily adjustedinto any desired position relative to. the mop head, and main, tained in'this position with a force just sufficient to give the desired-degree of permanency., l a r v It is also an object of this inventionzto provide a mop head construction embodyinga pivotal handle-socket frictionally heldin a, position of adjustment by resilient means. It is also an object of this invention to provide a mop head construction including a pivotal handle socket frictionally held'in a 1 position of adjustment with respect to the .swatchholdenthe friction means beingv also y adjustable to vary the gr thehandle socket member. a

j A further object of this invention is the provision of'a mop head construction including a buffer arranged to contact first with a 7 surface upon which the mop is being'used, and thus prevent, injuriouslcont'act of other portions of the mop head with said surface.

pping action upon QIt is still a further-obj ect' of this invention equipped with stiffening 'means in the lower portion thereof to provide the desiredrigidi l Still anotherobject of this inventionis the provision inza handle socket member for mops made of wound spring wire, each loop functioning as a thread for engagement with a complementally threaded handle. 7 I While some of the more salient features, characteristics and advantages of adevice embodying the present invention have been I above pointedout, others iwill becomev apparent from the disclosures hereinafter.

The invention includes these} and other features of construction and combinations of parts, hereinafter described, and'shownin :particularly indicated by the claims.

' 'ti'cal sectional View of the construction shown in-Figural taken substantially as indicated On the drawing Figure 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of a mop and handle therefor, the mop construction embodying features of the. present invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary verby the line II-II o'f 'Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view I 1 connection betweenthe handle and the mop.

indicated by the line TIL-III of Figure ,2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary 'top' plan view f taken through the mop head construction as of the mop :head construction immediately adjacent the connection of the handle socket member and the swatch holder. I r Figure 5 "is a side elevational view of ja portion of the connecting means. j v As shown on the drawing: j V Inthe illustrated embodiment of this invention, there is shown a swatch holder which may be of any desired character, but

which in the present instance is :of twisted a wire, the threads of aswatch11 being held securely between the twisted wire. As seen clearlyin Figure 1, the swatch holder is generally of an oval. shape as indicated by theline 12 and the ends thereof,-extend'in-* wardly beneaththe handle socket where the, ends are held joined by meansof aythrough bolt 13 passing through loops 14 formed on the end of the swatch holder. Inclosing each ,of-rthe loops 14v is a cover pla'te or cap 15 3 provided withlarelatively short neckportion 16, which acts as a stiffener for the respectiveends of the swatchholder adjacent the loop; Each ofthe cover caps 15 is alsoprovided with agcentral ape'rture .17 through which the bolty13 extends. In" this manner the loop oneach end of'theswatch holder 10 is maintained in proper fixed position and prevented from rotating .with respectfto thethrough'bolt'13. As will later appear more fullyherein, the cover caps 15 are main- 7 tainedin fixed position over the loop 14 by;

means bf a e nut is engaged] on. the end Qf e bolt13 v r 'Of'course,-handle holding means are provided, and in thisinstance theyinclude. a

rigid bar-shaped; shank 19 provided with a suitable aperture nearv one end] thereof through which thebolt 13 extends (Fig. 2) On the other end of this shank, a socket 20 is formed, and in this instancethe socket is made by closely winding spring wire into a Coll. The lower portion of. the coil is narrower than the upper portion, and: this lower portion is intimately engaged aroundthe.

shank 19, the coil being preferably. welded 'or otherwise. suitably secured to the shank.

The upper portion of. thesocket or coil isex threaded as indicatedat 2.2, and the spring. I

wire forming the socket is so wound that each turn of'the wire functions as a thread complemental to a thread 22, whereby the handle 21 may be readily screwed into engagement with the socketw20. It'will be noted that the'shank 19 functions as a stiffening means for the lower part of the resilient socket, but terminates short of the lower end of the handle 21 to thereby leave a space between the handle "and the shank. Consequently, there will be. a. somewhat resilient head, and-this resilient connection will absorb shockin the event the mop is pounded fact the shockwill be in most instances be so absorbed that the handle will not even be jarredloose from its initial connection with the socket.

As is apparent in Figure 2 the lower end of the shank 19 projects only 'a' reasonably shortdistancebeyond thebolt 13 inzall directions except towards the handle. DiS-* posed one oneach. side of theshank 19 is-a pair-of resilient buifers'23, preferably of rubher, and of'a sufiicientdiameter to extend out- I wardly beyond the end caps 15, thelowerend of the shank 19, and the-wing nut 18. The buifers 23 are apertured so that the throughv bolt 13 may pass therethrough, and when the wing'nut 18 is tightened, the bufi'ersare held in fixed position by the clamping action of j the shank19 of the i handle holding means thebover caps 15, as'clearly seen in Figure 3.

Obviously, the pressure f the buffers upon 155 tuation of the wing nut 18. The handle and handle holding'means may'bereadily adjusted t'oa desired position relative to the swatch holder and will be 'frictiona lly held in any position of adjustmentby the buffers 23 with any desireddegree of permanency. Dueto the clamping action of the inner edges of the cover caps 15, thebufi'ers are'heldagainst v rotation with the shank 19, buttheshank 19 under a reasonableforce will move between the buffers.

"It will also be noted that when polishing some surface, a polished hardwood floor, for example, shouldthe operator exert toomuch pressure'uponthe mop handle, the buffers 23 will'strike theqfloor and preventanyother parts ofthe-mop head from marring or otherwise injuring the surface of. the floor.

n will falso. be ome that all of the eas of the. handle holding meansandmop head are heldin assembled"relationship by means of the through bolt 13 andlwing nut 18, so

that in the event it becomes desirable to dismantle the mop for any-reasomit is simply necessary to remove the wing nut 18, pull out the thru bolt 13, and the cover caps 15, loops 14 and the ends of the swatch holder, buffers 23, and shank 19 of the handle holding means, are at once freely removable and replaceable by new parts it occasion warrants.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that I have provided a mop head construction which includes a reslllent connection between the handle and mop head, embodies an ad justable friction grip upon a handle holding means whereby a desired adjustment may be made and easily retained with the exact and desired degree of permanency, and also embodies bufier means which prevents any parts 7 of the mop head construction from injuring the surface upon which the mop is used. It

I is also apparent that the complete construction disclosed and described herein may be easily dismantled and just as easily reassembled. Furthermore, the present invention is exceedingly simple in construction, operation and use, and may be economically manufac tured.

I am aware that many changes may be 7 made and numerous details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention, and I, therefore, do not purpose limiting the patent granted hereonotherwise than necessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a mop head swatch holding means, spaced cover plates for the ends of said means, a bolt passing through said cover plates, resilient bufi'ers between said cover plates and of a size to extend outwardly beyond said cover plates, and a handle holder pivotal on said bolt between said bufifers.

2. In a mop head, swatch holding means, a handle socket member pivotal relatively to said means, a resilient bufi'er'on each side of said member, inwardly turned end members abutting said buffers, and means for clamping said end members against said buffers to compress theedges of said end members into said buffers to frictionally hold said handle socket member, said bufi'ers projecting beyond the other parts to protect a surface being cleaned 3. In a mop head, swatch holding'means terminating in spaced ends, a handle socket member pivotally mounted between said ends, resilient means adjacent said socket member, cover plates over the ends of the swatch holding means and each provided with a neck portion embracing the swatch holding means to stifi'en the same, and means for clamping said resilient means against said socket member. r t In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name at Chicago, Cook County, I

Illinois.

EDWARD B. HALL, Jr. 

